Mother's Day 2016 and a Scrumptious Sunday!

This year we celebrated Mother's Day for two days.  On Saturday, after Amalia's tee ball game ...

... we went to my parents' house to celebrate with my parents, sister, and grandparents.  The kids had fun reading.

Mollie, in particular, needed to rest a bit; she played first base during her game and chased after the ball A LOT.

It was such a beautiful day to be with family.

Baylor and Bryson played Code Master for a while ...

... then Baylor helped Oma make popsicles in her new popsicle molds.

Christine made an amazing cake for the occasion: four layers of vanilla cake with a layer of raspberry preserves, a layer of cream cheese buttercream frosting, and a layer of lemon curd, topped off with another layer of cream cheese buttercream frosting and raspberries.

Seriously, just look how beautiful this thing was!

And yes, it tasted as good as it sounds.

Sooooo many layers of goodness!

Then we played euchre.  I had a great hand, a GREAT hand, but my dad called diamonds and spoiled my loner.  That's the way the cards fall sometimes, though, right?

Before GG and GGpa left, Amalia showed off her new-found skip it skills!  Look at those moves!

Great food, great weather, and great company made for a really wonderful day.

Today - actual Mother's Day - I woke up early to have some alone time and get a few things started before everyone else woke up.  I did some laundry, sorted through the paper a bit, and worked on the dishes a bit, then Baylor woke up a little before 7:30.  He and I had snuggle time on the couch before he started work on his Snap Circuits.

Once everyone was up, I opened my Mother's Day gifts.  Amalia gave me a marigold and some treats she made at school, as well as a card she made the day before at my parents' house.  That's me in the picture holding my marigold and treats.

Baylor gave me a card as well, along with a magnet he made at school; the heart is made with his finger prints, and it's beyond adorable.

Bryson got me an electric pencil sharpener ... just what I wanted!  (Seriously, I really wanted an electric pencil sharpener; we use pencils a lot at our house, and my manual sharpener just isn't cutting it anymore.)

For dinner, I asked Bryson to make a replica of a salad I had while we were on spring break.  (The Honey Sesame Chicken Salad from Mangos Dockside Bistro in Marco Island, Florida, in case anyone is interested.)  I had already made it once, and since everyone seemed to like it well enough I thought it'd be okay to ask for it again.  I even helped make it a little easier to make by suggesting we get some frozen pre-breaded chicken strips to use instead of trying to do that ourselves; it really didn't come out as well last time when I tried.

So he chopped and peeled and tossed.

And weren't the results beautiful?!

Seriously, it was delicious, too!  Even the kids ate it without much hesitation.

So here's the Scrumptious Sunday part of the post ...

The Florida Salad  (based on the Honey Sesame Chicken Salad at Mangos Dockside Bistro)

~ serves two adults and two children ~

1 ripe mango, cut julienne-style
1 lb. of strawberries, sliced
1 24.5 oz. container of mandarin oranges
about 2.5 oz. of spring mix salad
about 15 Tyson Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Strips, cooked
1/3 cup honey
sesame seeds
tortilla strips
cashews

Directions:
1. Lay down a bed of the spring mix salad in each salad bowl.  Add mango, strawberries, and mandarin oranges.  Set aside.

2.  Coat the chicken breast strips with honey, then sprinkle with sesame seeds to taste.  Slice into bite-sized pieces.

3. Sprinkle tortilla strips and cashews over salad, then top with sliced chicken.  Enjoy!

Also:  You can also add some sweet onion salad dressing (like this one) or drizzle a little honey over the top.  (I highly recommend the Michigan Bee Co. honey, found at Meijer and D&W in Grand Rapids.)

After picking up the living room, getting ready for bed, and reading a little bit, the kids took a picture with me!  I am so proud to be their mom!

All in all, it was a great couple days, full of love and warmth and laughter.  Motherhood isn't always the easiest job, but I wouldn't trade it for anything on this earth.  A and b, I love you so much!

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!